39 ford suspension

[jon laing]

bob drake offers a rear shock & anti-sway kit and front sway bar kit for a 1939 Ford. Price seem reasonable. Do they make a significant difference in handling? Jon Laing

[jimTN]

Good original shocks, tight spring shackles and tierod ends will make a stock 39 handle fine. If you want to get fancy, put a 40 front axle in with the 40 stabalizer bar set up. The original hodi shocks when right hold a car very well.

[Vonn Ditch]

Jim is right about the 40 axle and bar, that improved the handling from 39 to 40. If you want to take it even further, take a look at how Junior Johnson and the rest of the moonshine boys set up the rear of those 40's.

For the money, the drake kit does look good.

[Ol' Ron]

The Key here is the length and angle of the shackles. Ford engineers found tha a vertical shackle improved the ride quality. However this caused other problems in handling, thus the stabilizer and track bar. This way you can tune the spring rate. It's the best straight axle system you can have.

[sidevalve8ba]

Originally Posted by Ol' Ron

The Key here is the length and angle of the shackles. Ford engineers found tha a vertical shackle improved the ride quality. However this caused other problems in handling, thus the stabilizer and track bar. This way you can tune the spring rate. It's the best straight axle system you can have.

What shackle angle and length is best to handle best?

[Bruce Lancaster]

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What you want to stabilize things in a pre-1942 Ford is shackles hanging at about 45 degrees. Problems come from spring sagging with age...eye-to-eye becomes longer as the spring flattens and shackles move toward vertical, allowing car to sway like a hammock.
Sway used correctly is pure sideways movement, NOT roll which involves body tilting...most of the comic books out there refer to an anti-roll bar as a sway bar, confusing the vocabulary.
One cure if your shackles are wrong is adding a Panhard bar, which is actually anti-sway.
As Ron noted, Ford went to vertical shackles in '42-48 and added panhard bars at each end then to eliminate sway.

(1940 Ford front bar...it was made in two different versions, and I cannot remember all the details...they are called out in the service bulletins, though. It was basically an anti-roll bar of the common U-shaped type, but had shackles that were laterally rigid so it could resist sway as well!)

[39portlander]

Jon, I installed the rear kit on my 39 and very happy with the good instruction sheet and fit. As pictured, no clearance problems with my larger poly fuel tank/bendix rear brakes ect.

My truck did not have the original rear cross member and the structure that is there now worked fine for locating shock supports. Free shipping until June 3rd

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

Scott, nice looking rear setup. I cain't see in the pic how that sway bar link is hooked to the axel housing. Walt

[40cpe]

Originally Posted by 39portlander

Jon, I installed the rear kit on my 39 and very happy with the good instruction sheet and fit. As pictured, no clearance problems with my larger poly fuel tank/bendix rear brakes ect.

My truck did not have the original rear cross member and the structure that is there now worked fine for locating shock supports. Free shipping until June 3rd

Now all that is left is to snake a tailpipe through.

[39portlander]

Walt, that mount is bolted to the two rear backing plate bolts. 3 1/2 bolts are provided.

40cpe, there is a lot of room to sneak the exhaust through there for my truck due to that rear cross member not being the original. Getting creative with 30 deg bends and all. Scott

[waynes]

I have a problem with the rear bolt position for Drakes sway bar brackets on my 38 coupe. The original shocks have a reinforcing plate on inside of frame which has a bump out directly where bolt goes making it impossible to drill hole. I thought by removing the two rivets holding the plate on I could easily remove it but also seems to be welded on and driving me nuts trying to get it off. Anyone have similar problem?

[V8COOPMAN]

39p.......Looks like you've used a pair of Jim Pullen's famous, red drum retainers. Really nice looking project. DD

[19Fordy]

DD, I am flattered! Thanks for pointing that out. I only have one pair left and will not be making anymore.